Couple in South Bloomfield start a processing operation for local wool using machines more popular a century ago

Steve Wartenberg, The Columbus Dispatch

Friday

Jun 29, 2012 at 12:01 AMJun 29, 2012 at 11:35 AM

The Strohms opened the Von Strohm Fiber Processing Mill in South Bloomfield in January. Using the carder and several other old textile machines, they turn raw wool into roving and yarn for local farmers with sheep, llamas and alpacas. They also have a retail store where they sell the yarn they produce and where Toia Rivera-Strohm, a master weaver, makes and sells scarves, sweaters and rugs.

The gears, belts and drums of the 65-year-old wool-processing machine began to turn, slowly at first, then faster and faster as it started singing its high-pitched song.

"Ready!" Brad Strohm hollered, standing at one end of the 40-foot-long piece of equipment, called a card feeder.

Strohm began feeding a large cloud of sheep's wool into the hopper, which then dropped it into the first set of rollers. This wool already had been washed, dried and sent through a nearly 100-year-old "pick" machine, which picks out many of the impurities.

At the other end of the 20-ton carder was his wife, Toia Rivera-Strohm. She was waiting for the wool to go through the carder's series of progressively smaller drums and rollers, which are lined with thousands of sharp metal strippers.

The wool began to work its way through the machine, coating the strippers and drums in white fluff. The end result is roving, which is partially processed wool, and Rivera-Strohm guided these thick strands into a bucket, ready to be transformed into yarn.

"Not bad for a couple of city kids," Strohm said.

The Strohms opened the Von Strohm Fiber Processing Mill in South Bloomfield in January. The name comes from the original family name.

Using the carder and several other old textile machines, they turn raw wool into roving and yarn for local farmers with sheep, llamas and alpacas. They also have a retail store where they sell the yarn they produce and where Rivera-Strohm, a master weaver, makes and sells scarves, sweaters and rugs.

The Strohms are part of a growing niche market for the natural local fibers coveted by knitters, crafters and artists. These artisans purchase roving and spin their own yarn, or buy the finished yarn.

American wool production peaked in the 1930s, as textile mills from sea to sea bought the product and made a variety of products people bought and wore. Then, the demand for wool began to shrink as synthetic materials became more popular.Most of these mills closed or moved overseas, according to the American Sheep Industry. These days, American farmers raise sheep more for their meat than for wool. Australia, New Zealand and China are the world's largest wool producers."This is still a niche market, and you have to build a good reputation and produce a good product and be consistent," said Ginny Ferguson, owner of Ohio Valley Natural Fibers near Cincinnati.

Her company has been processing wool for more than 25 years and produced about 8,000 pounds in 2011. It continues to grow steadily.

Like the Strohms, Ohio Valley Natural Fibers uses machines 50 or more years old.

"They're getting harder and harder to find," Ferguson said. "So many of them were sold for scrap metal."

She said a large old carder, which is the workhorse machine of a textile mill, costs about $2,500. The shipping price is more than the purchase price.

The Strohms' carder arrived on three tractor trailers about a year ago.

"It was in several pieces, and there were also all these barrels filled with parts," Strohm said of the tangled mess. "They said, 'Good luck' and took off, and we said, 'Where do we even start?'??"It took several months to assemble, and the carder still requires lots of love and tinkering, and gets a little cranky and hard to use when the humidity is high. The carder can produce 500 pounds of roving in eight hours.

"You can buy a new one that's fully computerized, but it won't get the job done any better," Strohm said.

Mr. and Mrs. Strohm each hail from Columbus and have no family history or connection to farming, textiles or wool, other than the mittens and socks they wore as kids.

Strohm is a nurse and also a skydiving instructor, which is how the couple met, in 2003.

"It was exciting," said Rivera-Strohm, who was strapped to Strohm on that first jump. She has a background in electrical engineering and robotics and is also a masseuse and acupuncturist.

"And now she's working on her pilot's license," Strohm said of his wife.

Rivera-Strohm taught herself how to spin yarn several years ago and took a master class in the African country of Ghana to learn the centuries-old craft of Ashanti weaving.

She was the first American, and the first woman, to take the class in the little village of Adamwomase.

"The women there have this tradition, that if they sit in front of the loom, they become infertile," Rivera-Strohm said. "And the men don't like female weavers."

Despite these issues and obstacles, not to mention the language problem, she passed the class.

When she returned from Africa in 2008, Rivera-Strohm had trouble finding the natural wool fibers she craved for her designs.

"We discovered it was cheaper to shear (them) yourself ..." she began.

"And the next thing I knew, I was building her a barn ... and we now have 15 llamas and four alpacas," Strohm said, finishing his wife's sentence.

Once they started processing their own wool, the couple discovered there were scores of farmers in central Ohio and beyond with sheep, llamas and alpacas who wanted their services.

"We used to throw away or give away our fleeces," said Sonja Conner, who has about 100 sheep on her farm in nearby Ashville.Then she met Rivera-Strohm, who bought some of her raw wool. The Conners began to bring their wool to the Strohms for processing and to sell the finished product.

Rivera-Strohm's finished products are available at their South Bloomfield shop. Alpaca sweaters range in cost from $15 to $100, scarves are $15 to $30, socks sell for $25 and rugs go for $12 to $38 per square foot.

The Strohms aren't afraid to think bigger.

"Our ultimate goal is to get larger wholesale accounts," Strohm said. "Like Limited Brands or OshKosh B'gosh. They would utilize our product to make their final product."

swartenberg@dispatch.com

@stevewartenberg

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